Ah, cycling in Germany! “Der Vaterland” would be at or near the top of my list for countries to explore on two wheels. I have a lot of German ancestry (on my mother’s side); so I feel attracted to both the country and its language. To be more specific, my German ancestors were from Bavaria and the Black Forest; so those are the places I’d want to visit.

There are numerous bike rides in the Black Forest (der Schwarzwald). If I went cycling in Germany, I would look for one around Baden-Baden, whence one of my four- or five- (maybe even six?-) times great-grandfathers came. Who knows — I might even be able to visit a library or something that would let me track him down!

Incidentally, why is it  called the BLACK Forest? I’ve heard three different versions of that. One: the forest is largely made up of conifers, which look dark (black) from a distance. Two: the trees grow so thickly that you don’t have to go far inside of the forest for it to be as black as night. Three: conifers naturally give off a dark-looking haze. Which version do you prefer? I think I like the second one best.

Bavaria sounds like a beautiful place.  Maybe this tour would do? I wouldn’t mind visiting Munich; although I think I’ll skip the beer.

And there’s a lot more of Germany. Meanwhile, I need to get back to beefing up my knowledge of the language. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?